Deepest Sorrow is the Greatest High
by Beneath The Vagrant Alpha
Summary: Bella and Alice are best friends trying to make the best of their situations. Alice has Edward and Bella has her teacher, Jasper, who has a few secrets of his own.
1. Chapter 1

BPOV

"No, no, no!" I stated firmly, crossing my arms over my chest, "You are out of your freaking mind."

Alice was once again trying to get me to play dress up with her. Why did I answer the damn door! I swear for her next birthday I was going to buy her a "My size Barbie" that she could play with instead of me.

"Oh come on Bella! It won't be that bad," She whined, "I promise you will thank me for it later when you look hot and have all the guys drooling over you."

I snorted and made my way to the bathroom that I shared with my dad. She should have known better than that. I was not out to impress anyone and Alice knew that. When your dear old dad is a raging alcoholic who hits you to make himself feel more like a man, well wanting to actually impress a boy was the last thing I really wanted to do. Who needed men? They were bigger and stronger and they didn't use it to protect you. No, they used it to hurt you. I was better off left alone.

Alice was the lucky one. Well, lucky now that is, she had her secrets too, but she found her soul mate in Edward and he actually did use his strength to protect her. He would never hurt her or me for that matter. Edward was the only guy that I trusted more than Alice. To put your trust into too many people though was stupid, it only left you open to getting hurt emotionally and physically.

Edward and Alice had what I liked to call a Forbidden Love. They met when she was fifteen, and he was twenty-two. According to Alice it was love at first sight and they haven't been a part since.

I admit I questioned it at first. I mean what would a guy like that want with a fifteen year old, but in the end he saved her. Alice was heading down a destructive path that not even I could help her with no matter how much I tried. For some strange reason she clicked with him and the rest is history. Six months later Edward moved her in with him to get her away from her parents. As much as I tried to help her, Alice was also trying to help me. Now that she was "saved" as she says, she wants to do the same for me. And for some reason she thinks a guy is the way to do that. No thank you.

I finished brushing my teeth and made my way back to my bedroom. May as well get this over with, she was not going to take no for an answer on our first day of school. Especially since it was our senior year.

I opened the door and immediately cursed myself for even bothering to wake up today. Clothes were strewn about everywhere. On the bed, across the floor and my desk. Was that my thong hanging from the ceiling fan?

"Alice, it's not even seven o' clock yet. It's too early for this shit." I complained, throwing myself onto my bed face down, "And get my thong down," I scolded her, "What if my dad comes in and sees that? He's going to think you and I just had a quick romp in the sack." I mumbled.

I heard her laugh and felt the bed dip beside me. "It isn't going to be as bad as you think Bells." She said excitedly, "This is our year, I just know it!"

I sat up and groaned in defeat. "Let's do this." I said trying to sound brave. "Something that covers the shoulders though." I told her.

She gave me a sad, knowing look before nodding her head.

A little over an hour and two scraped knees later we were finally able to come to a compromise and were on our way to Forks High.

"Jeez Bella, I know the blue dress may have been just a tad much but did you really feel the need to tackle me?" She exclaimed examining her elbow that was now sporting a carpet burn.

Serves her right.

"That wasn't just a blue dress Alice," I said with a frown, "That was a freaking evening gown. We're going to school. Not Prom."

I heard her mutter something about fashion and no sense before turning up the radio. I turned away and rested my head against the window. At least I made it out alive. I was stuck in a pair of tight skinny blue jeans that I could barely pull up over my ass and a white halter top with a sparkly silver over shirt on top. Then for the finale...I managed to wear my old worn out Converses. Ha.

The bell was ringing just as we pulled into the student parking lot. I looked around and saw the same old people that we've been going to school with since freshman year.

"Remember Bells, it's our year," said Alice giving my hand a quick squeeze.

I just sighed, grabbed my bag from the back seat of her Pathfinder, which was Edward's gift to Alice on her seventeenth birthday, and walked into the school next to Alice. It most definitely didn't feel like it was going to be "our" year.

~~~~~…..~~~~~

"Okay Seniors, I know you're all anxious to get to your next class so line up where you see the first letter of your last name so that we can distribute the schedules quickly and effectively. Once you have received your schedule please go to your first period class. Thank you," Boomed our loud ass principal over the microphone.

The Seniors, all eighty of us, were gathered in the auditorium waiting to get our schedules for the year. The way they had this set up was ridiculous.

We were almost eighteen being talked to like we were in first grade. Super.

"Bella, you have to come over after school and we can choose our outfits for tomorrow," Alice said, from beside me.

We were hanging back and waiting for some of the lines to go down before we wrestled the crowd for our own schedule.

"I always do." I replied easily, "But I refuse to spend hours up in your room trying on clothes. I just want to relax." I said giving her a glare.

"We can talk about it at lunch," She countered, giving me a firm glance before taking her place in line behind all the other B's.

I walked over to the other S's and waited for my turn to get my schedule. The first day of school was always a joke.

No one did anything, I thought with a huff.

Almost an hour later Alice and I met up to compare schedules. We stood side by side in the hallway while others pushed past us to get to their second period class.

"Well this sucks big balls," said Alice, tactful as ever.

I rolled my eyes but silently agreed.

"We only have four classes and lunch together!"

"Better than nothing though." I replied, putting my schedule in my bag. "I'll see you in history." I told her walking off towards Trig.

By the time lunch came around I was wondering why we were even here. We could be staying home and getting our G.E.D. instead. Who needs this shit? I really shouldn't complain though, it got me away from the house and effectively away from my dad. I guess that's all I could really ask for.

"So Edward is going up to his club this weekend and you know I have to go when he does. Want to go with me?" Alice asked as we stood in the lunch line.

Edward owned a strip club in Seattle and every other weekend went up there to check on things. Usually when he did Alice and I either went with him or we stayed at his house together while he was gone. If we went with him though we usually stayed in a hotel in Seattle Friday and Saturday then came back Sunday morning.

"Yea sounds great." I told her.

As much as Edward had saved Alice, in a way he also sort of saved me. He always looked out for me and made sure that I was with Alice every weekend so I didn't have to go home. He's asked me to move in with him as well but my dad would have noticed and probably would try to send Edward to jail or something. Being eighteen now the offer was really tempting but I didn't want to cause them any trouble.

"Perfect," Said Alice picking up a salad and coke and setting them on her plate, "Just ride home with me after school on Friday."

I chuckled and picked up a lemonade. I wasn't very hungry today.

"I always do." I told her giving her a smile.

Pushing my way through the crowded hallway I finally spotted Alice. I walked up to her and grabbed her hand.

"Hey sexy," She said giving me a big smile.

I couldn't help but laugh at her antics, "Hey yourself," I replied tugging on her hand, "Let's go, last class of the day." I said excitedly.

It was probably stupid, but I looked forward to English; I loved reading and writing.

We walked into AP English and took two seats at the back of the class away from everyone else. It wasn't that we were anti-social or anything, but after our sophomore year people starting spreading rumors, and in a town this small the rumors don't ever seem to fade. So now everyone assumed that Alice and I were in lesbian love and addicted to drugs and things of that nature.

They couldn't have been more wrong but with people thinking that we were gay, they never suspected Edward, and that was the main goal; to keep the spotlight away from him and Alice. And that's just what the rumors did. We didn't encourage them, but we never denied them either.

"So I heard that Ms. Lopez quit, any idea on who our new teacher is going to be for this class?" Alice whispered in my ear.

"I didn't know she left." I replied.

Whoever we had though had to be better than Ms. Lopez, the woman didn't know jack about the Classics. The room was slowly filling up with students but Alice and I were playing a new game she downloaded on her Blackberry. Another gift from Edward.

I suddenly got the goose bumps on my skin and felt a tingling sensation on my insides. Looking up I saw that a man, presumably our new teacher, had entered the room. He was tall and drop dead gorgeous. His hair was blonde and slightly curly and hanging in his face. But what struck me the most was his piercing blue eyes. His eyes met mine and I felt like we were the only two people in the room. All I could see was him. There was something about him that drew me to him. Like a moth to the flame.

A hard nudge in my side made me break eye contact with the blue eyed God. I felt a surge of annoyance for my best friend who was gaping at me like a fish out of water. ]

"What was that about?" She muttered lowly.

I just shook my head and looked back up to see that he had his back to me now. "I have no idea." I said.

Whatever that was I wondered if he felt it too.

"Good afternoon class and welcome to AP English," said Mr. sex on legs, "My name is Mr. Whitlock. I'll pass out the syllabus and reading list in a few minutes. You have one week to purchase Wuthering Heights. We'll read it and have class discussions as well as do a couple of Essay's. I don't tolerate disrespect or interruptions. Understand?" He looked around the room after his mini speech.

I guess he won't put up with bull shit. Good.

I heard Alice groan and slouch down in her seat. She liked school and being challenged when it comes to school work but we've never had a teacher come off as such a hard ass before. It was intimidating, which of course is probably what Mr. Whitlock was going for.

I couldn't stray my eyes away from him though. He turned and looked at me suddenly, once again making eye contact. My plain brown eyes looking into his deep blue eyes. I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks and looked away embarrassed, but not before I saw him me give a small smile, like he knew what he was doing to me.

I was in trouble. How was I supposed to concentrate in here with my own personal God as my teacher? I sighed and mimicked Alice by slouching down in my seat. This was going to be a long year. The first guy that actually catches my attention in almost four years just happened to be my teacher. I quickly shook my head of those thoughts; teacher or not I refused to let myself get involved with anyone. I put up my walls four years ago and they were not coming down now.

Mr. Whitlock let us talk to amongst ourselves as he passed out the course syllabus and was asking for every body's names. When he got near mine and Alice's table the tingling sensation came back tenfold.

"And what are your names?" He asked in his cool, smooth, sexy voice.

I don't think it was possible for me to get any redder.

"Alice," she replied with a big grin.

What a suck up.

"B-Bella." I said softly, finally looking up at him.

"Nice to meet you two." He said with a smile of his own before heading back to the front of the room.

I let out a deep breath that I didn't even know I was holding and felt my body tremble. He was the first male that came near me, besides Edward, that didn't make me flinch away from him. I usually got nervous around men in general, but I didn't feel threatened when he was around. Why was that, I mused to myself.

I could feel Alice's eyes boring into the side of my face, "Oh we are so going to discuss this on the way home, Bella," she teased.

Great. I had this weird, crazy crush my teacher. Can it get any worse?

"You know you're lucky that I came over early and helped you dress yourself. At least you looked hot for Mr. Whitlock," Alice said as she sped down the highway towards Edward's house.

I rolled my eyes but didn't say anything. I couldn't get his blue eyes out of my head. And the way he said my name as we were leaving. I have never felt this way about anyone before, why did he have such an effect on me?

Edward was the only man to show me that not everyone was like my father. But I never felt like I would find a guy like Edward for myself. Alice was one of the lucky ones to get such a great guy.

"You're right Alice, I'm sure that my ass looked good enough to get Mr. Whitlock to risk his career for me. His student." I said, emphasizing the word 'student'.

Alice just snorted and continued driving.

"I know these things Bella," She sang, "You'll see."

I sighed and decided to change the topic. "What are we making for dinner tonight?" I asked her.

We usually cooked dinner together for Edward on Monday's. On top of owning the strip club in Seattle, he also owned a local bar here in Forks and was a History Professor at the local college. He taught a few classes during the day then checked in on his clubs on the weekends about twice a month.

Needless to say he was kept pretty busy, and then once he and Alice became serious he became even busier attending to us on shopping trips. He loved to spoil her.

"I was thinking we could keep it pretty simple tonight with Chicken Alfredo pasta?" She asked.

Usually I was the one cooking while Alice sat on the counter top and talked with me. It was one of our things. I cooked, she talked.

"Sounds perfect," I grinned.

"You going to call Charlie and see if he'll let you spend the night tonight?" She asked pulling into her driveway.

I always tried to spend as much time here as I could. I even had my own room full of my things here.

"Yea, I could try. He let me last week so I doubt he'll let me this week though." I said.

Monday nights were Charlie's late nights so I wasn't expected to cook dinner for him, so he never knew that I came over here after school. Charlie is the Chief of Police here in our small town called Forks in Washington. Ironic how he's supposed to protect people yet doesn't think twice about raising his hand to me whenever he wanted.

Alice shut the garage door as we walked into the kitchen. I trailed after her and we put our bags down in our rooms before heading back to the living room. I went to the DVD shelf where they had hundreds of movies stacked up nicely, and chose "Chuck and Larry". I smirked and put it in the DVD player while Alice turned on the T.V. with the remote from the couch.

I walked over to the couch and laid my head in Alice's lap then hissed when my shoulder hit her hip bone. I sat up and rubbed my shoulder where it hit.

"Jesus Bella," said Alice sitting up looking worried, "I thought you said it wasn't that bad when you texted last night."

"It's not." I said trying to lay back down, "It's just sore."

"Let me see. Please."

I took off the sparkly top and let her see the hand shape bruises that covered my left shoulder.

"God dammit," She whispered, "You've had worse, I'll give you that, but still it looks painful. Let me get you some Advil."

Before I could protest she was up and in the kitchen. That's what made Alice such a great friend. She never asked questions and she never judged me.

Once she was back and I took the offered medicine, we curled back on the couch and started our movie. A few minutes later we heard the garage door opening alerting us that Edward was home.

Neither one of us moved as we heard him come into the kitchen. I heard him chuckling before I saw him.

"Really, Chuck and Larry again?" He asked, leaning over and giving Alice a kiss on the lips.

"Hey, it's a great movie." I defended.

I leaned up as he came down to my level and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. "I'm not knockin' it hun," He replied before heading up the stairs.

He always hated wearing suits to work.

"Let's go start dinner Bells." Alice said, pausing the movie.

I sat up and stretched before following her to the kitchen. I picked up their house phone on the way and dialed the police station first.

"Chief Cortez here," said a male voice on the line.

"Hi Cortez, it's Bella." I said, trying to sound upbeat.

No one knew what went on at home and even if they did, they wouldn't believe it.

"Hey Bella," he said, "One sec, your dad's in his office, I'll send you through."

"Thanks." I muttered.

A second later Charlie was on the line.

"Swan."

"Hi dad," I said softly.

"What do you want?" He asked sharply.

"Can I stay the night with Alice tonight?" I asked. "I'll be home tomorrow afternoon before you get off work."

With Charlie this could only go one of two ways. Either he really wouldn't care since he wouldn't be home until midnight anyways, or he would be in a bad mood already and demand that I go home only to take it out on me when he got home.

"Sure do what you want," He said indifferently, "But I expect dinner on my table when I get home from work tomorrow." He said before hanging up.

I hung up the phone and made my way to Alice with a small smile. I had a feeling it was not going to be a pleasant night tomorrow night with Charlie.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks everyone for the well wishes. This is the original Author of this story; I just had a name change to avoid some drama. Thanks for reading. Please feel free to save copies of the chapters or download them or put them in PDF file etc if you are interested in having a copy for yourself. It doesn't bother me. I don't write for profit. Just fun. **

BPOV

I had to admit, I made one damn good chicken Alfredo. After dinner Alice and I were cleaning up the dishes while Edward went upstairs to shower.

"Well another night that you don't have to go home," Alice observed as we were walking upstairs to my room.

We both knew that nights were the worst at my house. Last night was just one of the many "rough" nights that occurred more often than not.

My bedroom door slamming into the wall jolted me awake as I sat up straight in bed.

_"Ooooohhhhh Beeeelllaa." _

_My dad's voice rang out in the still night air. He was drunk. Again. My body started shaking as I gripped my bed sheets in my fists. Please just walk away, I thought, just walk away Charlie. Luck was not on my side though. Not that it ever was._

Charlie stumbled into my room and bumped into the side of my bed. I glanced at the side table at the alarm clock. 3:34. Christ.

_"Get out of bed," he demanded. _

_I made no move to get up and Charlie became impatient and stumbled towards me. I scrambled to kick the sheets off me but my foot got caught causing me to tumble to the floor. I heard Charlie cackle evilly before reaching down and pulling me upright by my arm._

I yanked my arm out from his grasp and accidently hit his chin pretty hard.

_"You little bitch," Charlie hissed. _

_I stumbled backwards as I saw Charlie raise his hand; I ducked my head so that he wouldn't hit my face again and felt a sharp sting on my shoulder. I could feel his fingers digging into my skin there as he shook my arm. After a couple more blows he finally dropped me to the floor with a muttered "Worthless bitch" on his way out._

"Sorry excuse of a fathe," I muttered under my breath as my door slammed shut.

_I rotated my shoulder and felt the stiffness, but I knew that it would be worse tomorrow. Four years ago I promised Alice that I would always text her or call her after something happened with my dad and I haven't ever broken that promise. I picked up my cell and sent a quick text to her knowing that she would reply immediately. She always kept her phone right next to her in case I ever needed her in the middle of the night._

Charlie gave me a cell phone but I was limited on my minutes and he checked every little detail on there. I could delete the call log or the text messages, but he would just get online and see everything that way. He wanted to make sure that I wouldn't tell anyone. But there was no one to tell besides Alice. No one else would believe me. The Charlie people saw in public was a separate Charlie than I saw at home. No one really saw his true colors.

Night Ali. Love you. -Bella

There. Just enough for her to know that something happened, but that I was fine. Not ten seconds later my phone lit up with a message back.

Night Bells, I'll be over in a few hours to help you dress for school. Love you. -Ali

End Flashback

I shook my head to rid myself of the flashbacks that haunted me as I went into the room that Edward and Alice had set up for me two years ago. I stepped into the familiar room that had become my sanctuary for the last two years. I grabbed a tank top and pajama bottoms before heading to the bathroom. I only wore tank tops around them. I was still ashamed of the scars and bruises that marred my skin, but around them I was comfortable. They didn't look at my imperfections like they were disgusted with me.

I finished with my shower and made my way back downstairs to find Alice. Luckily we didn't have any homework so we had the rest of the night to hang out. I found Edward and Alice cuddled up together on the couch watching another movie. Alice was sitting on the edge and Edward was in the middle. I went to my spot on his right side and sat down, laying my head on his chest with my right arm resting on his stomach.

Alice reached over and grabbed my hand and held it in hers while we continued watching 'Hancock'.

"Bells, are you going to stay in our room tonight?" She asked me as the movie ended. Sometimes I slept with them; they kept my nightmares away, and other nights I stayed in my own room.

I looked at her to see if she really minded and could see that she didn't. Edward rubbed my back and smiled down at me.

"Sure, that would be great." I said smiling up at them.

I really was lucky to have such great friends. After two hours of playing cards with Alice I forgot all about my problems and worries and that night as Edward spooned Alice and Alice spooned me, our hands all intertwined together, I slept peacefully for the first time in a week. Visions of a certain blue eyed God played out in my head all night.

"Bella! Wake up!" Yelled a high pitched voice in my ear.

"Ugh," I groaned, "Alice I'm right here, you don't have to yell."

"She is worse than any alarm clock." Edward groaned from behind her.

I giggled and turned over so that I could face the evil pixie head on.

"You would think he would be used to it by now," she huffed while giving me a playful wink.

I heard Edward groan as he leaned over and pecked Alice on the lips standing up.

"You would think," he muttered.

I stretched and sat up as Edward came over to me and kissed my cheek.

"Mornin'," he grumbled before stalking off for their bathroom.

I just chuckled and made my way back to my room to get ready. I was almost to the door when Alice ruined my good mood.

"I'll be in there in a few minutes Bells! We have to get you looking hot for Mr. Whitlock," she called out playfully.

I just groaned and continued walking. So she did see me eye fucking him.

An hour later she had me in another pair of skinny jeans and a black long sleeved shirt that showed just a sliver of my skin at the bottom. It did look good, I had to admit. I kept my hair in a ponytail today. It was raining hard and I didn't want to be bothered with it getting all wet and hanging in my face.

Alice held my hand as we walked up to the school and went our separate ways. By lunch time I was cranky and ready for English. My heart fluttered every time I thought about being in the same room with Mr. Whitlock. I was seriously sick. This was going from a simple crush to border line obsession and I didn't even know his first name. A shadow crossed over the table and I looked up to see the devil himself looking down on Alice and me.

"You know Bella, one night with me and I could change your status to straight," said James, standing in front of me and Alice while we ate lunch.

James was the second string Quarter back on the football team and thought he was God's gift to girls. He was nothing but an arrogant, conceited ass though if you asked me. I looked at him and smirked.

"Ya think so?" I asked him.

"Oh, I know so baby," He replied trying to sound sexy.

He sounded like he had a frog in his throat.

"Sorry, no can do." I replied before looking away.

I was sick of his games. It was all a joke to him and his football buddies. Who could nail me first. I would be nothing more than a notch on his belt.

I looked back startled when he slapped his hands down on the table, "I will have you Bella. Make no mistake about that," He said angrily before walking back to his table.

"What a dick," said Alice picking at her sandwich, "Don't be alone around him Bella, I have a bad feeling about him."

"I don't plan on it. Trust me. He creeps me out too," I admitted before turning my attention back to my garden salad.

The rest of lunch we talked about what we would do this weekend. Charlie was going to be spending the weekend at his friend, Billy's house, so that meant I got all weekend with Alice without having to worry about being home to cook for him. After plans were made, we went our separate ways until we would meet again at the end of the day.

For some reason sixth period gym class let out a little early so I was the first one to arrive in English. I stepped inside and saw Mr. Whitlock with his back to me facing the blackboard. I guess he had a free period right before our class. I could feel the tingles starting in my toes as I walked to my seat in the back. As if he could feel them too he turned and looked around the room before his eyes settled on me.

I could feel myself blushing again under his gaze and cursed my pale skin.

"Hello Miss Swan," he said with a small grin.

"Hello." I whispered, I could hardly breathe and he was walking towards me.

He gave me a small smile before pulling up a chair and sitting in front of me.

"You're a Senior this year right?" He asked, seeming interested.

"Yes Sir."

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen." I replied feeling a little bit braver.

"Any colleges lined up?"

"I'm applying at the Community college here. I don't want to go far," I said.

It was partly true. Alice and I were going to take a few college courses there next year then transfer to a college in Seattle. Edward wanted to move to Seattle to be closer to his club and was also thinking of opening up another bar there. Plus he offered me a job at the strip club being a bar tender on the weekends that he would be there, so it really was the best solution all around. Alice and I would get to stay together.

He nodded his head as the bell rang. I could hear students filling the halls all ready to get to the last class of the day. He winked and stood up, making his way to the front of the classroom.

What was that all about?

"Oh my gosh! What did he say to you?" Alice whispered, plopping down beside me.

How did she know these things?

"Calm down will ya?" I hissed at her, "Do you want people to get suspicious?"

The bell rang signaling the start of class, so luckily I didn't have to answer her. It's not like there was anything going on though. He just asked me two questions and gave me a smile...and a wink, but surely that didn't mean anything. Right? You're being stupid, I told myself, of course it didn't mean anything. He had to be in his late twenties, why would he want someone still in high school. With his looks he could have any woman he wanted.

Mr. Whitlock then started talking about the different things we would find in Wuthering Heights and what to look for. He also said that he wanted an Essay on the first five Chapters next Friday. I groaned inwardly, why did all the teachers feel the need to assign homework all on the same night? At least this homework would be fun though. For me.

As the bell rang I shuffled around getting my stuff together while Alice waited patiently. I stood up and followed her out, right before we got to the door frame I heard Mr. Whitlock's voice from behind me.

"Goodbye Bella," he said with a wave.

I waved back silently, but was jumping up and down on the inside. Could he feel the energy and the tingles like I could?

"Call me tonight Bella if you need me, you know it's going to get rough." Alice said, as I was stepping out of her car.

She was right, it was probably going to get bad tonight.

"I'll come pick you up if you need me to," she added.

I nodded my head at her and gave her a smile that I hope looked strong. Inside though, my stomach was turning. Just how bad would it be tonight though? Some nights I got away fairly unscathed, others...I wasn't so lucky.

If others knew about my situation they would probably wonder why I didn't just turn him in now that I was eighteen. Sometimes I wondered why too. But it all came down to blood. He was all I had left. He was my dad whether we liked it or not. He wasn't always like this either. It started after my mom, Renee, died when I was thirteen of cancer. Dad starting drinking and then became verbally abusive. When he realized that his words no longer had an effect on me he turned to hitting me.

I reminded him too much of Renee. I had her eyes and her facial structure. I looked more like her than Charlie. Sometimes I was tempted to just get my shit and move in with Edward and Alice but since I was still in school Charlie could easily find me and try to drag me back. I wasn't sure if he would use force and I wasn't willing to risk it. After graduation all bets were off though. I already agreed to move in with Alice and I would get a part time job to help out financially until we relocated to Seattle.

I went up to my room and started on my homework until it would be time to start dinner. I chose to make spaghetti tonight. It was quick and simple and was easy to clean up. I just set the plates on the table when I heard Charlie pull up in the driveway. I sat down and started eating just waiting for Charlie to come in and join me.

He didn't say a word as he sat down and ate and I could feel the tension in the air. This was not going to end well for me. Alice was right.

When we both had finished I stood up to take the plates to the sink when he stopped me by grabbing me by the arm roughly.

"You can't hide from me forever, Isabella," he spat, "I don't give a shit where you spend your nights, but I hear people talking. I know that you're a slut, sleeping around with Alice."

With that he threw me to the floor and kicked my legs. I groaned and tried to roll away from his blows.

I stood up quickly only to be met with his fist as he hit me square in my jaw. Whatever he heard pissed him off more than usual. He was usually pretty careful not to hit my face too much. He thought it would raise suspicion.

I could feel the tears sliding down my cheeks as I leaned against the wall. He pinched my arms before leaving the kitchen without as much as a backwards glance. I wiped away the tears and gently touched my jaw where I was hit. It was already swelling. Super, I though sarcastically. I finished with the dishes then made my way up to my room. Charlie of course was stationed in front of the TV, beer in hand.

I went to the bathroom and shut the door. Five years of this. If mom could see me now she would be so disappointed in me. I dried the remaining tears and looked in the mirror. There was already a bruise forming and my arms were red and sporting new bruises as well. I didn't have enough concealer left to cover this bruise on my face either.

I finished washing up and made my way to my bedroom, texting Alice before climbing into bed.

_I need to borrow some concealer, please. I'm out. -Bella  
_  
I turned off my light and snuggled under my covers.

_I'll come over early and do your makeup, unless you want me to pick you up? -Ali  
_  
I thought about her offer. I should just leave, but I knew that it would only be a temporary fix to an on-going problem. Once I came back it would be even worse.

_No thanks. I'll see you in the morning. Love you. -Bella  
_  
_Okay, call me if you need me. Love you more. -Ali_

Luckily, Charlie didn't bother me during the night, but I still woke up to my normal nightmares. Finally around five I gave up on the hope of sleep and sat in bed and waited for Alice. I must have dozed off at some point though because I woke up to Alice's sharp intake of breath as she took in my face.

"Christ Bella," she whispered shutting the door, "it looks awful."

I grimaced and sat up straight and touched my jaw carefully. It certainly felt tender.

"I just didn't see it coming this time," I whispered willing myself not to cry.

Crying didn't solve a damn thing.

"It's not your fault Bells," she said, giving me a hug, "Go wash up and then we'll get started."

Alice did her best with the bruise, but if you looked closely you could still see it. I hated wearing so much makeup too. Luckily teachers either didn't notice or didn't care and made no comments about it.

Alice and I decided to skip lunch today and went outside instead. It hurt too badly for me to chew food and it was nice out for once so we decided to take advantage of the nice weather while it lasted.

"I'll meet you in Chem, I need to go to the bathroom," I told Alice, leaving her texting Edward.

I put on some more concealer in the bathroom then made my way out checking my phone. I looked up right as I ran into a hard body, causing me to fall down on my bottom.

"I'm so sorry!" I gasped.

I heard a familiar chuckle and felt the electricity jolt through my body. Mr. Whitlock. I looked up and saw him smiling down on me with his hand held out to mine. I put my hand in his tentatively as he helped me back on my feet.

"No worries Bella, it was my fault," he replied easily.

I saw his eyes narrow as he took in my face. I'm sure he was looking at the bruise. God dammit. No telling what he'll think now.

"Isabella what happened?" He asked firmly looking into my eyes.

I swear his eyes got darker as he looked over my face.

"I-it's nothing," I stammered, "Just took a spill."

I got a strange feeling in my stomach as I lied to him. It was like I felt guilty for not telling him the truth. I felt like I was deceiving him. I shook my head to clear those thoughts, he didn't need to know the truth, and it wasn't his business.

"Sure doesn't look like nothing," he replied.

What did he want me to say? That was all that he was going to get out of me.

"I'm sorry Mr. Whitlock?" I said, though it came out as more of a question.

He pinched the bridge of his nose before looking up and down the hallway. We were utterly alone.

"Very well," he said briskly, before walking off.

What the hell was that about? This man was going to drive me insane. I picked up my bag from the floor and made my way to the Chemistry lab as the bell rang, thoughts of Mr. Whitlock's angry stare burning through my mind.


	3. AN

Hey guys! Not an update (yet), but I wanted to let you all know that a new story that I am working on with Jess2002 has been posted! It's called 'Always on my Mind!' This is our second story that we are writing together and we're so excited about this one!

The first story we did together is called: Twisted in Every Way.

You can find both of these stories on her profile under Jess2002.

I hope to see you guys there!


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